‘Not just there to put out fires’
Service thanked for work during pandemic
STAFFORDSHIRE Fire and Rescue Service has been praised by community leaders for its work to help residents get vaccinated and stay safe during the Covid-19 pandemic – including using a fire engine to put a distressed young man at ease during his jab.
The service has assisted the NHS and councils in getting the Covid jab into as many arms as possible by going out to meet harder to reach residents, such as seasonal farm workers, homeless people, members of the travelling community and Afghan refugees, as well as using fire stations to host vaccination centres.
This work was hailed at the latest Police, Fire and Crime Panel meeting, where Councillor Tina Clements highlighted the support given to a reluctant visitor.
She said: “I’m an NHS responder volunteer and I was part of the vaccination programme in Tamworth.
“We had a very distressed young autistic adult come in with his parents who was never going to have that jab in his arm until he sat on the fire engine.
“They were able to get the jab into him without him even knowing because he was playing with all the buttons. It took his mind off it.
“This young lad was terrified but the fire officer put his mind at ease and he went out quite happy. Well done to the fire officer on that day because it’s one more jab in an arm.
“I want to place on record my thanks for the work the fire service has done. They’re not just there to put out fires any more. They are a trusted brand, so when people see them they are going to go to them.”
Fire Service staff have also collected covid anti-viral drugs from pharmacies in Stoke and Stafford to deliver to vulnerable residents at home in recent months, a report to the panel said.
It added: “Other activities include movement of NHS equipment, establishing medical facilities at short notice including the vaccination events at Leek Moorlands Hospital and the medical centre at the Afghanistan evacuee hotel, surge testing within outbreak areas of the county (and) delivery of the vaccine to schools to support the schools vaccination programme.
“So far the work we have been involved in has delivered 11,762 vaccines (jabs in arms), tested around 4,000 people and got stuck into the heart of the response to the pandemic. This work continues as partnerships grow in strength.”
Safe and Well visits, which involve fire service staff checking the safety of residents’ homes, have been limited as a temporary measure to high risk vulnerable people during the pandemic.
Staffordshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Ben Adams said: “Safe and Well visits are considerably down. We were at exceptionally high numbers – 14,000 back in 2019. There were 3,400-ish in a six-month spell (April to September 2021).
“Interestingly, the number we are doing during covid is still greater than most other authorities do anyway, so we have a terrific record here. The ambition is to be more targeted and focused on which properties we go to talk to.
“Another reason for working closely with health (services) is we’d like to know where the most vulnerable people are, those unlikely to have friends, relatives or capacity to check their own smoke alarms, check they’re safe and check their appliances are safe.”
Forsbrook councillor Tony Holmes said: “We could use some of our exfiremen, in the rural areas especially, to go round and check on these people. If we could get that moving that would be lovely.”
Councillor Ann Edgeller said: “I’m dealing with an individual with hoarding and can I say thank you to the fire service for their work with me on it to try and help this person sort their problems out and hopefully prevent a fire starting?”
Mr Adams responded: “Hoarding is a very significant problem – not only do buildings potentially go up very quickly because they’re full of fuel, but the firefighters can’t get in because they can’t get through corridors and buildings. “